Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 14.djvu/722

 698 LITHOGRAPHY the Theatre Royal at Munich. The son Alois wished to follow the same profession, but, his father being opposed to this, he went to the university of Ingolstadt, and devoted himself to the study of jurisprudence. Owing to the death of his father shortly afterwards, he was unable to continue his studies at the university, and, yielding to his old inclination, he tried to support himself as a performer and author, but without success. In order to accelerate the publication of one of his works, he frequently spent whole days in the printing office, and thus became acquainted with all the particulars of the process of print ing. It appeared so simple that he conceived the idea of purchasing a small printing press, thus enabling himself to print and publish his own compositions ; but his means were inadequate, and to this circumstance we probably owe the invention of lithography. Unable to pay for the engraving of his compositions, he attempted to engrave them himself. He tried numerous experiments with little success ; tools and skill were alike wanting. Copper-plates were expensive, and the want of a sufficient number entailed the tedious process of grinding and polishing afresh those he had used. About this period his attention was accidentally directed to a fine piece of Kellheim stone which he had purchased for the purpose of grinding his ink. His first idea was to use it merely for practice in his exercises in writing backwards, the ease with which the stone could be ground and polished afresh being the chief inducement. The idea of being able to take impres sions from the stone had not yet occurred to him. While he was engaged one day in polishing a stone slab on which to continue his exercises, his mother entered the room and desired him to write her a bill for the washer woman, who was waiting for the linen. Neither paper nor ink being at hand, the bill was written on the stone he had just polished. The ink used was composed of wax, soap, and lamp-black. Some time afterwards, when about to wipe the writing from the stone, the idea all at once struck him to try the effect of biting the stone with aqua fortis. If the parts written on resisted its action, impressions might then be taken in the same way as from j wood engravings. Surrounding the stone with a border of wax, he covered its surface with a mixture of one part of aqua fortis and ten parts of water. The result of the experiment was that at the end of five minutes he found the writing elevated about the tenth part of a line ( T -|y- inch). He then proceeded to apply the printing ink to the stone, using at first a common printer s ball, but soon found that a thin piece of board covered with fine cloth answered better, communicating the ink more equally. He was able to take satisfactory impressions, and, the method of printing being new, he hoped to obtain a patent for it, or even some assistance from the Government. For years Senefelder continued his experiments, until the art not only became simplified, but reached a high degree of excellence in his hands. In later years the king of Bavaria settled a handsome pension on Senefelder. He died at Munich in 1834, having lived to see his invention brought to comparative perfection. Materials Employed by the Lithographic Artist. Litho graphic stones are very compact homogeneous limestones, imported chiefly from Germany. The traffic has its centre in the village of Solenhofen, in the district of Monheim. The Solenhofen stone, in its chemical decomposition, con sists of lime and carbonic acid. It is generally cut in slabs from 2 to 3 inches in thickness, and is sold by weight. Stones yielding impressions in the lithographic press have been found in England, France, Italy, Canada, and the West Indies; but all are much inferior to the best German stones. Lithographic stones vary in colour from a dull grey or yellow to a light creamy shade, the dark grey stones being the hardest. They are sometimes uneven in colour, having light and dark patches. These are suitable for ordinary transfer work; but, in cases where the artist requires to see the effect he is producing during progress (as in chalk drawing), stones of an even grey or drab colour should be selected. Lithographic ink is composed of tallow (4 oz.), wax (5 oz.), soap (4 oz.), shellac (3 oz.), and quant, suff. of fine Paris black. The inks of Lemercier and Vanhymbeeck are generally considered as among the best. Lithographic chalk is made in the same manner as the ink, but requires to be burnt sufficiently hard for use in drawing. Excellent lithographic crayons are manufactured by Lemercier of Paris. They are made of several degrees of hardness, copal chalk, used for outlining, being the hardest. Transfer paper for writing and drawing is prepared by coating the surface of the paper with a composition of size, made from parchment cuttings and flake white. Some times the coating is composed of starch and glue. Colouring matter, generally gamboge, is added, the object being to show more readily which is the coated side of the paper. The coating is applied with a full brush. For writing, the paper used is thin, for drawing it is thicker ; for large subjects ordinary drawing paper is used. It is afterwards glazed by being pulled through the lithographic press, face down, on a smooth stone, or hot pressed. There are several other varieties of transfer papers a transparent or tracing paper, and a transfer paper for chalk drawing, hav ing a finely granulated surface. Mr Nelson of Edinburgh patented a method of graining transfer paper by means of stippled plates. The older method was to press the coated surface of the paper on an ordinary sand-grained stone or plate. Instruments and Appliances used in Lithographic Draw ing and Writing. For the finer purposes of lithography ordinary steel pens are useless ; &quot; Perry s lithographic pen &quot; may be found serviceable when the work is not very delicate. Transfer writers prefer pens of their own mak ing. These are either made from quills scraped down, before cutting, with a piece of broken glass, until the barrel yields to pressure of the nail, or cut with a pair of sharp scissors from thin sheets of steel prepared for the purpose. This operation is difficult, and requires much skill and practice. Pens are also made of watch springs, reduced to the necessary tenuity by nitric acid and water. Lithographic brushes are made from red sable crowquill pencils ; a portion of the hair is cut away all round, and only the central part of the brush is used. Scrapers are employed in correcting the work upon stone, but a penknife or ordinary erasing knife answers the pur pose equally well. Crayon holders of the ordinary kind may be used for lithographic chalk. When cut in two and fitted with a wooden handle, they will be found lighter and pleasanter to work with. The hand-board is a piece of wood about 6 inches wide, three-eighths of an inch thick, and somewhat longer than the stone on which the draughtsman works. It rests upon thick strips of millboard fixed round the edges of the stone, to keep it from touching the part to be drawn on. Ruling and circle pens, parallel rulers, tracing paper, a tracing point, and red tracing paper, for transferring tracings to paper or stone, are also requisites. Drawing on Stone. The Chalk Method. For artistic purposes this is perhaps the most important and interesting department of lithography. In preparing the stone for chalk drawing, the surface, instead of being polished, is broken up into minute points or &quot; grained.&quot; The coarseness or fineness of the grain is varied according to the work to be done. A hard stone, free from veins, marks, and chalk